Sanitary attachment for toilet-seats.



Y. MASUZAWA.

SANITARY ATTACHMENT FOR TOILET SEATS.

APPLICATION. EILED JAN. a. law.

1,23% 93% Patented Aug. 21, 1917.

W1 'rNEsSiis' Alia/Hey a iii SANITARY ATTACHMENT FOR TOILET-SEATS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 21, 121i '7,

Application filed January 31, 191a. Serial No. 75,422.

To all ivhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, YosHIMAsA MAsU ZAWA, a subject of the Emperor of J a an, residing at Armona, in the county 0 Kings and State of California, have invented a new and useful Sanitary Attachment for Toilet- Seats, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to an improved attachment for toiletseats, and has for an object to provide a-device for supporting a number of sheets, of paper, or the like, conveniently over the toilet seat, to be used one for each person, to prevent contact of the person with the seat, and thus eliminate the liability of infection; to provide means for guiding the sheets into proper position upon the seat, as they are drawn down for use; to provide a device which admits of the free raising and lowering of the seat and its cover; to provide a device which supports a large number of sheets and automatically feeds the outermost sheet into a position to be grasped; and to provide a combined support and cutter to hold the sheets in place-to be grasped and to cut the same free from the support when they are bein pulled down for use.

Another object 0 the present invention is to provide a support for the sheets which may be placed above a low down flushing tank, or below a high flushing tank, and

which may be easily fitted to any type of toilet seat.

Other objects and advantages of this in-' vention will be brought out in the following specific disclosure. of the present preferred embodiment thereof, the same being shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a front elevation of the device of this invention applied to a toilet seat, and being arranged beneath an elevated flushing tank. If

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view, taken through Fig. 1, on the line 22, and looking downwardly on the seat in the direction indicated by the arrow.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view through the sheet support, taken on the line -33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an outer side elevational view of the support with the sheets removed therefrom.

Fig. 5 is a detail enlarged top plan view of one of the upper supporting studs carried by the support.

Referring to the drawing, wherein like parts are designated by similar numerals of reference throughout the several views, 10 designates a bowl of the usual construction mounted on a pedestal 11 and provided with a seat 12 of the usual form, and a cover 13 therefor. The seat 12 and cover 13 are provided in the usual manner with hinge members 14 through which pass bolts 15, in order to hingedly connect both the seat and the cover to posts 16 which rise from the back board or support 17 usually arranged in rear of the seat and the cover. In the present instance this support 17 is shown in the form of a flat baseboard lying horizontally and substantially in the plane of the seat 12. Arranged above the bowl 10 at a considerable height is a flushing tank 18, which is connected to the bowl 10 by a flushing pipe 19 extending downwardly and through the base board 17.

The improved attachment comprises, broadly, a support for a stack of sheets of paper, and a guide to engage each sheet of paper and direct it downwardly into proper position upon the seat 12. The support comprises a base plate 20 having preferably at its upper and lower edges outstanding cars 21 adapted to be bent backwardly and secured against the face of the wall. The base plate 20 is thus supported in slightly spaced relation from the wall and in a vertical position. Outstanding from the upper end of the base plate, and-being spaced toward the opposite corners thereof, is a pair of upper studs 22, round in contour, and notched at their opposite sides, to provide heads 23 with abrupt inwardly facing shoulders 24:. The reduced portions of the studs 22, immediately behind the heads 23, are

beveled at their opposite sides and have such sides converging upwardly to provlde a longitudinal cutting or knife edge 25 which slopes outwardly and downwardly behind the head. The lower end" of the plate 20 is provided with a pair of spaced apart hollow studs 26 in the form of sleeves or tubes which extend outwardly in parallelism with the upper studs 22, and are preferably spaced farther toward the opposite lateral edges of the plate to dispose the lower studs 26 as far apart as possible. The outer ends of the studs 26 are left open. Placed o ver the studs 22 and 26 are a plurality of sheets 27 of paper, or the like, and which are provided with apertures through which the studs are adapted to snugly fit. The base plate 20 is provided with a follower28, in the form of a flat plate of slightly less width than that of the base plate 20, and provided upon its lower end with overturned tongues 29 rolled about a transverse rod 30, whlch 1s secured in spaced relation across the lower shown, are secured to the base plate at one end, as at 33, and bear at their opposite free ends against the inner side of the follower plate 28 to force the latter outwardly against the sheets 27 and crowd the sheets forwardly upon the upper. pair of studs 22. This crowding forwardly of the sheets presses the outermost sheet against the flat shoulders 24 of the heads 23 to retain the stack of sheets from accidental displacement from the support. As soon, however, as it is desired to detach a sheet from the support, it is only necessary to draw the outermost sheet downwardly when the sheet comes in contact with the upwardly facing knife 25 on each stud, and is severed thereby, so that the sheet may be quickly and easily removed from the support. The follower 28, under the yielding pressure of the springs 32 advances the stack of sheets the thickness of one sheet each time a sheet is removed, so as to hold the sheets always in proper position for detachment.

The guide employed is in the form of a single length of relatively heavy wire bent substantially U-shaped, the opposite arms of which constitute a pair of spaced apart guide rods 34 adapted to extend upwardly at the opposite sides of the seat and the cover. As will be noted particularly from Fig. 2, the lowerend of the U-shaped guide is offset backwardly to provide the guide with a supporting base 35, adapted to rest fiat upon the supporting board 17. This horizontal portion of the guide is held flat upon the board 17 by an attaching plate 36 secured by screws, or the like, to the board 17. It will be noted that the opposite ends of the base 35 of the guide diverge outwardly from one another to a point which 1s located at a'substantial distance beyond,

they direct the lower end of the sheets forwardly of the cover 13 and out of contact therewith, so that the sheet 27 when drawn down will lie flat upon the unobstructed seat. The upper ends of the guide rods 34 are turned inwardly, as shown to advantage in Fig. 3, to provide fingers 37 which fit into the outeropen ends of the lower studs 26, so as to receivefrom the studs the lower ends of the sheets 27, and to thus hold and guide the sheets 27 into proper place over the seat.

The sheet 27 may be of any desired form, but is preferably made of a size to completely cover the seat 12, and is provided with a central severed portion 38 held in place in the middle of the sheet by imperforate tabs 39,which are relatively narrow and which may be arranged in any desired man ner, such as the three indicated in Fig. 1. The central section 38 is removable and is perforated along desired lines as at 40 to enable the easy separation of the section 38 into the desired number of smaller parts.

Each sheet 27 is provided at the forward side of the opening therein with an inwardly extending protecting tongue 41.

When it is desired to withdraw a sheet 27 and apply it to the seat 12, it is only necessary to draw the upper portion of the sheet 27 downwardly and engage the same with the knife edges 25 of the upper studs. These knife edges thus cut the sheet and admit ofsheet is now swung down, and the lower end thereof slips from the tubular studs 26 onto the guide rods 34, and as the sheet is allowed to drop, or is carried down, the guide rods direct the sheet into proper alinement over the seat. As soon as one sheet is removed from the stack, the springs 32 urge the follower plate 28 forwardly and advance the stack upon theupper studs 22. To replace a stack of sheets upon the support, it is'only necessary to draw theresilient guide rods 34 outwardly to disengage the fingers 37 thereof from the lower tubular studs 26. When the guide rods 34 are thus drawn outwardly sufficiently to be out of the way, the new stack of sheets may be forced, by sli ht pressure, over the upper and lower stu s 22 and .26 against the tension of the springs 32.

The fingers 37 are now sprung back into place when the sheets are in position to be used.

It is, of course, understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the above specifically set forth structure within the scope of the claims'without departing from the spirit of the invention, so as to adapt the device of this invention to various conditions which may be found in the mounting of the device, and for the purposes of design.

What is claimed is 1. The combination with a toilet seat having a cover hinged at the rear thereof, of a support mounted above the seat and adapted to carry a stack of sheets, and spaced guides in engagement with said sheets and extending downwardly from said support to points near to each side of the seat, forwardly of the-rear edge thereof and of the hinge of the cover, said guides being spaced apart sufiiciently to allow the cover to swing backwardly between them.

2. The combination with a toilet seat, of a support arranged above the toilet seat and adapted to carry a stack of sheets thereon, heads carried by the support for engagement with the sheets to hold the same from outward displacement, cutters arranged behind said heads for cutting the sheets upon their vertical downward movement behind the heads, and guides engaging through the lower ends of the sheets andextending downwardly at the opposite sides of said seat.

3. The combination with'a toilet seat, of a support mounted above the seat and adapted to carry a stack of sheets, a guiding mem-\ ber secured behind said seat and having forwardly diverging and upwardly extending arms spaced laterally from the edges of the seat and being turned inwardly at their upper ends for engagement through the lower ends of the sheets to retain and guide the same, said guidin arms being resilient and adapted for. with rawal from the lower end of the support to admit the removal and replacement of a stack of sheets.

4. The combination with a toilet seat, of a support arranged above the toilet seat and comprising a base plate for securement against the wall, a follower plate mounted on the base plate, a spring for urgingthe follower plate outwardly, upper and lower studs outstanding from the base plate and adapted to receive a stack ofsheets thereover, and a pair of resilient guiding rods extending upwardly from the opposite sides of the seat and adapted for yielding enstud for a stack of sheets,

- flat plate, a

diately behind the heads to cut and release the sheets when the latter are drawn downwardly from behind the heads. 6. The combination with a toilet seat having a cover hinged at the rear thereof, of a support mounted above the seat and adapted to carry a stack of sheets, and spaced guides extending downwardly from said support to points at each side of the seat, forwardly of the rear edge thereof and the hinge of the cover and substantially in the same horizontal plane therewith, said guides being spaced apart sufiiclently to allow the cover to swing back wardly between the guides, the lower portion of said guides being directed to the rear ofthe seat and suitably supported, the upper ends of the guides removably engaging the support and sheets.

7. In a device'as specified, a supporting said stud having registering notches in its opposite side walls, said walls converging a cutting edge at the top of the stud and a head outwardly of the cutting edge, and a spr ng pressed follower bearing against the stack of sheets to yieldingly hold the outermost sheet against the head, the cutting edge being adapted to cut the sheets free of the stud as they are drawn downwardly one at a time.

8. In a device as specified, a flat plate adapted for securement against a wall, a second plate hinged at its lower end to the lower end of said flat plate and comprising a follower, a pair of leaf springs secured at one endto the flat plate and bearing at their free ends against the free end of the follower to urge the latter outwardly from the pair of studs outstanding from the flat plate, and passing through said follower, a pair of lower studs carried by the flat plate and extending outwardly therefrom and having open outer ends, said studs being adapted to receive the upper and lower portions of a stack of sheets thereover, heads on the upper studs adapted to engage the outermost sheet and hold the same from displacement under tension of the follower,

and a pair of guides detachably engaging in upwardly to provide I released from the port adapted for attachment to a Wall over a toilet seat, studs outstanding from the support for engagement wlth' a stack of sheets, and a guide beneath the support, said guide comprising a single length of Wire bent substantially U-shape to provide opposed guiding arms extending vertically up- Ward from the opposite sides of the toilet seat, and having its lower end ofiset in- Wardly for securement behind the seat, the upper extremities of said guiding arms being turned inwardly for engagement through the stack of sheets to receive the same one at a time When released from said studs. In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses. YOSHIMASA MASUZAWA.

Witnesses:

JOHN F. PRYon, E. E. BUSH. 

